1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for preparing an improved natural citrus flavor and more particularly to a process for preparing a natural citrus flavor product having superior flavor qualities with increased strength and a reduced bitter taste sensation from the combination of comminuted citrus rinds and an aqueous carbohydrate solution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well-known that the rind of citrus fruits is nutritionally excellent because it contains great quantities of various vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin C. In general, the rinds of citrus fruits are thrown away because the rind has a bitter taste which debases the quality of the resulting juices.
Many attempts have been made heretofore to utilize the rind and other wastes of the citrus food. U.S. Pat. No. 1,813,366 to Teusch, issued July 7, 1931 describes the physical removal of the bitter taste from the orange rinds by soaking the rinds in water for several days or in a citrus juice for a few hours, after which the water or orange juice is removed, recovering the debittered rinds for further use such as in confectionery, jam, extracts for beverages or the like. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,662 to Ducker et al., issued May 13, 1952 also describes a process for preparing an edible product constituting the rinds of citrus fruit by physically removing the bitter taste from the rind. This is accomplished by comminuting the rinds to small particles, placing these particles in water, heating at high temperatures between 230.degree. F. to 250.degree. F. for a period of time, then the rind is recovered from the water containing the bitter ingredients and the water is discarded. The rind is then used in confectionary or other foods. U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,648 to Mouri et al., issued June 30, 1981 describes a method for producing fruit juices, free of unpleasant odor and taste, by boiling the whole fruit, including the rind, squeeze residues and the like at temperatures of at least 90.degree. C. for 3 to 20 minutes. The texture of the fruit is destroyed by a chopper and the pH is controlled with an organic acid. An enzyme such as cellulose, hemicellulase, amylase, pectinase, or a mixture thereof, is added for decomposing the plant tissue of the crushed material at 40.degree. C. An additional comminuting step is carried out of the crushed material before or during the enzyme treatment. The enzyme is deactivated by heating to 100.degree. C. for less than 5 minutes, followed by filtering the product and concentrating the filtered product. This process requires at least 2 comminuting steps, use of additional enzymes and the addition of organic acids to control the reaction medium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,196 to Johnston, issued May 12, 1981 describes a process for preparing a palatable and edible food product for human consumption from a fruit precursor comprising substantially non-edible and substantially non-palatable portions of the fruit such as citrus fruit peels, pith and the like by comminuting the fruit precursor, in the presence of a diluting agent such as water, sugar solutions, dilute syrup, fruit processing slurries etc. The comminuted precursor is digested in the presence of a digesting agent such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and the like to adjust the pH of the precursor to 7 to 8.2 to permit the amylytic enzymes in these fruits to work at temperatures below 45.degree. C. After the digestion step, neutralization agents which can be the same as the digesting agents, can be added to provide the same pH as the comminuted precursor prior to digestion. The resulting product can be packaged for distribution to the food industry or can be incorporated into other food products such as fruit juice, desserts and the like. Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,053 to Blake, issued Nov. 4, 1980 describes the preparation of a comestible base from major amounts of residual citrus juice vesicles, a nutritive carbohydrate sweetening agent, a non-volatile organic acid, ungelatinized starch and water cooked at temperature between 180.degree. F. and 280.degree. F. This process uses specific portions of the citrus fruits, e.g., the juice vesicles, but does not use the rinds to effect the desired result.
In the present invention, a process has been discovered for preparing an improved natural citrus fruit flavor product containing comminuted citrus rinds, having superior flavor qualities with increased strength and reduced bitter taste without physically removing the bitter taste ingredients, without the addition of enzymes to the process and without the addition of digesting and/or neutralizing agents.